Brad Aaron
Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York's dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.
Recent Posts
Eyes on the Street: Much of the 158th St. Greenway Connector Is Missing
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A utility crew ripped up 158th Street where a two-way bike lane connects to the Hudson River Greenway and hasn’t re-installed the bike lane after patching up the asphalt. A reader sent us photos of the bikeway, which is supposed to be a green, two-way route between Broadway and the Henry Hudson Parkway, separated from car traffic by plastic posts. A […]
TA: City Hall’s Spending Decisions Are Limiting Life-Saving Street Designs
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Transportation Alternatives says the de Blasio administration’s failure to fully fund Vision Zero street improvements is limiting the number of split-phase traffic signals DOT can install to prevent collisions at dangerous intersections. In June, 30-year-old cyclist Olga Cook was killed by an allegedly drunk driver who made a right turn across the Hudson River Greenway at Chambers Street, one […]
Driver Backing Up to Park Severely Injures Cyclist in Middle Village [Updated]
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A driver in pursuit of a parking spot severely injured a cyclist in Queens this morning. The victim, a 64-year-old man, was traveling northbound on Lutheran Avenue, near Juniper Valley Park in Middle Village, at about 8:35 a.m., NYPD told Streetsblog. Near the intersection of Juniper Boulevard North, a 71-year-old backing up to park hit him with […]
Driver Charged Under ROW Law After Killing Teresa Martinelli, 79, in Midtown
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A senior hit by a driver in Midtown earlier this month has died. NYPD charged the driver with violating the victim’s right of way. Teresa Martinelli, 79, was “knocked out of her floral print shoes” when Mieczyslaw Truskowski hit her with a Toyota pick-up truck as she crossed at Second Avenue and E. 58th Street at around […]
Vacca Blames Bronx CB for Deadly Street Design, But He’s Culpable Too
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DOT failed to make safety improvements to the deadly stretch of East Tremont Avenue where a driver struck and killed cyclist Giovanni Nin last month, and City Council Member James Vacca says Bronx Community Board 10 is to blame. In the spring of 2015 DOT put forward a road diet plan for East Tremont between Williamsbridge Road and […]
Victim-Blaming Commences After Bruckner Boulevard Claims Another Life
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A motorist struck and killed a man last night on Bruckner Boulevard, a Bronx street designed to facilitate speeding and one of the borough’s most dangerous places to walk. The victim was attempting to cross Bruckner near East 149th Street at around 12:30 a.m. Monday when he was hit by the driver of a BMW […]
Driver Who Killed Senior in Queens Crosswalk Not Charged With a Crime
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A motorist who killed a senior in a Ridgewood crosswalk was summonsed for failing to yield, but NYPD did not charge her with a misdemeanor under the Right of Way Law. Mary Alice D’Amico was crossing Myrtle Avenue at Fresh Pond Road at around 9:50 a.m. on May 14 when a driver making a left turn from […]
Electeds Urge DOT to Make Safety Improvements PS 41 Parents Asked For
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Local, state, and federal electeds are calling on DOT to make long-sought safety improvements in the West Village, including a protected bikeway on Seventh Avenue South. In a June 30 letter to DOT, City Council Member Corey Johnson, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Assembly Member Deborah Glick, State Senator Brad Hoylman, and U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler […]
Manhattan DA Vance Wins Manslaughter Conviction for High-Speed LES Crash
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Update: Danny Lin was sentenced to one and two-thirds to five years in prison. The sentence was “half of what prosecutors had argued for,” the Daily News reported. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance won a jury trial conviction for manslaughter in the case of a speeding motorist who killed a man walking on the Lower East Side in […]
NYPD Still Withholds Crucial Traffic Enforcement Data From the Public
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How effective is NYPD traffic enforcement? Are police enforcement actions making city streets safer and reducing injuries and fatalities? The public doesn’t know, because the enforcement data released by NYPD is extremely shallow. Witness the numbers NYPD handed over to the Times about a recent five-day “Bicycle Safe Passage” enforcement action (above), which took place from June 20 to […]
Watch Andrew Cuomo’s Bizarre, Rambling Take on the State of NYC Transit
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From behind a lectern with a placard that said “Modernizing the MTA,” Governor Andrew Cuomo argued today that the MTA is old and outdated, so he deserves credit for even the most basic upgrades. He sounded like someone ranting to himself on a street corner, not a governor with a sound plan to improve the transit system […]
Hit-and-Run Driver Murders Cyclist, So 90th Precinct Tickets People on Bikes
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A hit-and-run driver killed a cyclist in Williamsburg this weekend. Though police believe the motorist ran over the victim on purpose, the 90th Precinct responded by ticketing cyclists and handing out bike safety fliers. Matthew von Ohlen, 35, was riding his bike east on Grand Street between Manhattan Avenue and Graham Avenue at around 2:20 a.m. […]